The first bee species was just officially listed as endangered

The rusty-patched bumblebee is now officially on the endangered species list. It's the first bee from the continental US to be be listed for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, after declining 90% since the early 1990s,
The Guardian reported
.

Due to many factors such as climate change, increased use of pesticides, and habitat loss, these little bees now inhabit less than half of the states they used to - 13 instead of 28. Scientists believe bees are particularly vulnerable to a kind of
pesticide called neonicotinoids
, which are widely used to keep bugs off crops and gardens.

Two other bumblebee species from the US are on the Red List already as "critically endangered," but they have not been
listed for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act
: Franklin's bumblebee and Suckley's cuckoo bumblebee. There are 29 other species of bees
on the list with differing statuses
.

Bees of all kinds are crucial for pollinating wildflowers and crops, and arguably society
would fail without them
.

Being listed under
the Endangered Species Act
means that there are restrictions on activities known to harm the species and requires the government to prepare plan for its recovery.

Why bees are important:

Bees are pollinators
, which means one third of the food we eat would not be available if it wasn't for bees.